NHTSA Complaint #10487542 — 2010 FORD ESCAPE

ON JUNE 15, 2012, THE 2010 FORD ESCAPE WITH 29321 MILES LOST POWER (I.E. NO GAS, BUT ELECTRONICS REMAINED ON) WHILE MERGING ONTO A CROWDED HIGHWAY AT 50 MPH. AN ACCIDENT WAS BARELY AVOIDED. ERROR LIGHTS WERE LIT ON THE DASHBOARD AND THE CAR WOULD NOT RESTART. HOWEVER, UPON REMOVING THE KEYS FROM THE IGNITION AND REINSERTING THEM, THE ERROR LIGHTS TURNED OFF AND THE CAR RESTARTED WITHOUT ANY APPARENT PROBLEMS. THE CAR WAS IMMEDIATELY DRIVEN TO THE UNIVERSITY FORD DEALERSHIP IN CHAPEL HILL, NC. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT COULD NOT DETECT A PROBLEM, STATED THAT THE COMPUTER WAS NOT REGISTERING ANY ERRORS, AND RETURNED THE CAR WITHOUT FIXING ANYTHING. ON JUNE 27, 2012, THE CAR (29988 MILES) AGAIN LOST POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN. THE CAR HAD BEEN STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND WAS ACCELERATING FROM A STOPPED POSITION. AGAIN, AN ACCIDENT WAS BARELY AVOIDED. THIS TIME, THE CAR'S COMPUTER DID REGISTER AN ERROR. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT UNIVERSITY FORD IDENTIFIED A FAULTY THROTTLE BODY SENSOR (PART NO. 9L8Z9E926A) AND REPLACED IT WITH PART NO. DS7Z9E926A. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT ENSURED THE PROBLEM WOULD NOT REPEAT ITSELF. ON NOVEMBER 24, 2012, THE CAR (ROUGHLY 34000 MILES) LOST POWER FOR A THIRD TIME WHILE STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT. REMOVING THE KEYS FROM THE IGNITION AND REPLACING THEM ALLOWED THE CAR TO BE RESTARTED, AND THE CAR WAS PROMPTLY TAKEN TO UNIVERSITY FORD. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT NO ERROR WAS REGISTERED ON THE COMPUTER AND THAT THE CAR WOULD HAVE TO BE RETURNED. THE WARRANTY POLICY STATES THAT NO PARTS CAN BE REPLACED IF A PROBLEM IS NOT DETECTED. *TR